Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [27] Now concerning the nature of the gods in general, and especially that of the ruler of the universe, first and foremost an idea regarding him and a conception of him common to the whole human race, to the Greeks and to the barbarians alike, a conception that is inevitable and innate in every creature endowed with reason, arising in the course of nature without the aid of human teacher and free from the deceit of any expounding priest, has made its way, and it rendered manifest God’s kinship with man and furnished many evidences of the truth, which did not suffer the earliest and most ancient men to doze and grow indifferent to them;

  [28] ἅτε γὰρ οὐ μακρὰν οὐδ᾽ ἔξω τοῦ θείου διῳκισμένοικαθ᾽ αὑτούς, ἀλλὰ ἐν αὐτῷ μέσῳ πεφυκότες, μᾶλλον δὲ συμπεφυκότες ἐκείνῳ καὶ προσεχόμενοι πάντα τρόπον, οὐκ ἐδύναντο μέχρι πλείονος ἀξύνετοι μένειν, ἄλλως τε σύνεσιν καὶ λόγον εἰληφότες περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἅτε δὴ περιλαμπόμενοι πάντοθεν θείοις καὶ μεγάλοις φάσμασιν οὐρανοῦ τε καὶ ἄστρων, ἔτι δὲ ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης,νυκτός τε καὶ ἡμέρας ἐντυγχάνοντες ποικίλοις καὶ ἀνομοίοις εἴδεσιν, ὄψεις τε ἀμηχάνους ὁρῶντες καὶ φωνὰς ἀκούοντες παντοδαπὰς ἀνέμων τε καὶ ὕλης καὶ ποταμῶν καὶ θαλάττης, ἔτι δὲ ζῴων ἡμέρων καὶ ἀγρίων, αὐτοί τε φθόγγον ἥδιστον καὶ σαφέστατον ἱέντες καὶ ἀγαπῶντες τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φωνῆς τὸ γαῦρον καὶ ἐπιστῆμον,ἐπιθέμενοι σύμβολα τοῖς εἰς αἴσθησιν ἀφικνουμένοις, ὡς

  [28] for inasmuch as these earlier men were not living dispersed far away from the divine being or beyond his borders apart by themselves, but had grown up in his company and had remained close to him in every way, they could not for any length of time continue to be unintelligent beings, especially since they had received from him intelligence and the capacity for reason, illumined as they were on every side by the divine and magnificent glories of heaven and the stars of sun and moon, by night and day encountering varied and dissimilar experiences, seeing wondrous sights and hearing manifold voices of winds and forest and rivers and sea, of animals tame and wild; while they themselves uttered a most pleasing and clear sound, and taking delight in the proud and intelligent quality of the human voice, attached symbols to the objects that reached their senses, so as to be able to name and designate everything perceived,

  [29] πᾶν τὸ νοηθὲν ὀνομάζειν καὶ δηλοῦν, εὐμαρῶς ἀπείρων πραγμάτων καὶ μνήμας καὶ ἐπινοίας παραλαμβάνοντες. πῶς οὖν ἀγνῶτες εἶναι ἔμελλον καὶ μηδεμίαν ἕξειν ὑπόνοιαν τοῦ σπείραντος καὶ φυτεύσαντος καὶ σῴζοντος καὶ τρέφοντος, πανταχόθεν ἐμπιμπλάμενοιτῆς θείας φύσεως διά τε ὄψεως καὶ ἀκοῆς συμπάσης τε ἀτεχνῶς αἰσθήσεως; νεμόμενοι μὲν ἐπὶ γῆς, ὁρῶντες δ᾽ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ [p. 163] φῶς,

  [29] thus easily acquiring memories and concepts of innumerable things. How, then, could they have remained ignorant and conceived no inkling of him who had sowed and planted and was now preserving and nourishing them, when on every side they were filled with the divine nature through both sight and hearing, and in fact through every sense? They dwelt upon the earth, they beheld the light of heaven, they had nourishment in abundance, for god, their ancestor, had lavishly provided and prepared it to their hand.

  [30] τροφὰς δὲ ἀφθόνους ἔχοντες, εὐπορήσαντος καὶ προπαρασκευάσαντος τοῦ προπάτορος θεοῦ πρώτην μὲν τοῖς πρώτοις καὶ αὐτόχθοσι τὴν γεώδη, μαλακῆς ἔτι καὶ πίονος τῆς ἰλύος τότε οὔσης, ὥσπερ ἀπὸ μητρὸς τῆς γῆς λιχμωμένοις καὶ, καθάπερ τὰ φυτὰ νῦν, ἕλκουσι τὴν ἐξ αὐτῆς ἰκμάδα, δευτέραν δὲ τοῖς ἤδη προϊοῦσι καρπῶν τε αὐτομάτων καὶ πόας οὐ σκληρᾶς ἅμα δρόσῳ γλυκείᾳ καὶ νάμασι νυμφῶν ποτίμοις, καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῦ περιέχοντος ἠρτημένοι καὶ τρεφόμενοι τῇ διηνεκεῖ τοῦ πνεύματος ἐπιρροῇ, ἀέρα ὑγρὸν ἕλκοντες, ὥσπερ νήπιοι παῖδες, οὔποτε ἐπιλείποντος γάλακτος ἀεί σφισι θηλῆς ἐγκειμένης.

  [30] As a first nourishment the first men, being the very children of the soil, had the earthy food — the moist loam at that time being soft and rich — which they licked up from the earth, their mother as it were, even as plants now draw the moisture therefrom. Then the later generation, who were now advancing, had a second nourishment consisting of wild fruits and tender herbs along with sweet dew and

  fresh nymph-haunted rills.

  Furthermore, being in contact with the circumambient air and nourished by the unceasing inflow of their breath, they sucked in moist air as infants suck in their food, this milk never failing them because the teat was ever at their lips.

  [31] σχεδὸν γὰρ ἂν ταύτην δικαιότερον λέγοιμεν πρώτην τροφὴν τοῖς τε πρότερον καὶ τοῖς ὕστερον ἁπλῶς. ἐπειδὰν γὰρ ἐκπέσῃ τῆς γαστρὸς νωθρὸν ἔτι καὶ ἀδρανὲς τὸ βρέφος, δέχεται μὲν ἡ γῆ, ἡ τῷ ὄντι μήτηρ, ὁ δὲ ἀὴρ εἰσπνεύσας τε καὶ ψύξας εὐθὺς ἤγειρεν ὑγροτέρᾳ τροφῇ γάλακτος καὶ φθέγξασθαι παρέσχεν. ταύτην εἰκότως πρώτην λέγοιτ᾽ ἂν τοῖς γεννωμένοις ἡ φύσις ἐπισχεῖν θηλήν.

  [31] Indeed, we should almost be justified in calling this the first nourishment for both the earlier and the succeeding generations without distinction. For when the babe, still sluggish and feeble, is cast forth from the womb, the earth, its real mother, receives it, and the air, after breathing into it and quickening it, at once awakens it by a nourishment more liquid than milk and enables it to emit a cry. This might reasonably be called the first teat that nature offered to human beings at the moment of birth.

  [32] ἃ δὴ πάσχοντες, ἐπινοοῦντες οὐκ ἐδύναντο μὴ θαυμάζειν καὶ ἀγαπᾶν τὸ δαιμόνιον, πρὸς δὲ αὖ τούτοις αἰσθανόμενοι τῶν ὡρῶν, ὅτι τῆς ἡμετέρας ἕνεκα γίγνονται σωτηρίας πάνυ ἀκριβῶς καὶ πεφεισμένως ἑκατέρας τῆς ὑπερβολῆς, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τόδε ἐξαίρετον ἔχοντες ἐκ τῶν θεῶν πρὸς τὰ ἄλλα ζῷα,

  [32] So experiencing all these things and afterwards taking note of them, men could not help admiring and loving the divinity, also because they observed the seasons and saw that it is for our preservation that they come with perfect regularity and avoidance of excess in either direction, and yet further, because they enjoyed this god-given superiority over the other animals of being able to reason and reflect about the gods.

  [33] λογίζεσθαι καὶ διανοεῖσθαι περὶ αὐτῶν. σχεδὸν οὖν ὅμοιον ὥσπερ εἴ τις ἄνδρα Ἕλληνα ἢ βάρβαρον μυοίη παραδοὺς εἰς μυστικόν τινα οἶκον ὑπερφυῆ κάλλει καὶ μεγέθει, πολλὰ μὲν ὁρῶντα μυστικὰ θεάματα, πολλῶν δὲ ἀκούοντα τοιούτων φωνῶν, σκότους τ�
� καὶ φωτὸς ἐναλλὰξ αὐτῷ φαινομένων, ἄλλων τε μυρίων γιγνομένων, ἔτι δὲ εἰ καθάπερ εἰώθασιν ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ θρονισμῷ καθίσαντες τοὺς μυουμένους οἱ τελοῦντες κύκλῳ περιχορεύειν: ἆρά [p. 164] γε τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον μηδὲν παθεῖν εἰκὸς τῇ ψυχῇ μηδ᾽ ὑπονοῆσαι τὰ γιγνόμενα, ὡς μετὰ γνώμης καὶ παρασκευῆς πράττεται σοφωτέρας, εἰ καὶ πάνυ τις εἴη τῶν μακρόθεν καὶ ἀνωνύμων βαρβάρων,

  [33] So it is very much the same as if anyone were to place a man, a Greek or a barbarian, in some mystic shrine of extraordinary beauty and size to be initiated, where he would see many mystic sights and hear many mystic voices, where light and darkness would appear to him alternately, and a thousand other things would occur; and further, if it should be just as in the rite called enthronement, where the inducting priests are wont to seat the novices and then dance round and round them — pray, is it likely that the man in this situation would be no whit moved in his mind and would not suspect that all which was taking place was the result of a more than wise intention and preparation, even if he belonged to the most remote and nameless barbarians and had no guide and interpreter at his side — provided, of course, that he had the mind of a human being?

  [34] μηδενὸς ἐξηγητοῦ μηδὲ ἑρμηνέως παρόντος, ἀνθρωπίνην ψυχὴν ἔχων; ἢ τοῦτο μὲν οὐκ ἀνυστόν, κοινῇ δὲ ξύμπαν τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένοστὴν ὁλόκληρον καὶ τῷ ὄντι τελείαν τελετὴν μυούμενον, οὐκ ἐν οἰκήματι μικρῷ παρασκευασθέντι πρὸς ὑποδοχὴν ὄχλου βραχέος ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων, ἀλλὰ ἐν τῷδε τῷ κόσμῳ, ποικίλῳ καὶ σοφῷ δημιουργήματι, μυρίων ἑκάστοτε θαυμάτων φαινομένων, ἔτι δὲ οὐκ ἀνθρώπων ὁμοίων τοῖς τελουμένοις, ἀλλὰ θεῶν ἀθανάτων θνητοὺστελούντων, νυκτί τε καὶ ἡμέρᾳ καὶ φωτὶ καὶ ἄστροις, εἰ θέμις εἰπεῖν, ἀτεχνῶς περιχορευόντων ἀεί, τούτων ξυμπάντων μηδεμίαν αἴσθησιν μηδὲ ὑποψίαν λαβεῖν μάλιστα δὲ τοῦ κορυφαίου προεστῶτος τῶν ὅλων καὶ κατευθύνοντος τὸν ἅπαντα οὐρανὸν καὶ κόσμον, οἷον σοφοῦ κυβερνήτου νεὼς ἄρχοντος πάνυ καλῶς τε καὶ

  [34] Or rather, is this not impossible? impossible too that the whole human race, which is receiving the complete and truly perfect initiation, not in a little building erected by the Athenians for the reception of a small company, but in this universe, a varied and cunningly wrought creation, in which countless marvels appear at every moment, and where, furthermore, the rites are being performed, not by human beings who are of no higher order than the initiates themselves, but by immortal gods who are initiating mortal men, and night and day both in sunlight and under the stars are — if we may dare to use the term — literally dancing around them forever — is it possible to suppose, I repeat, that of all these things his senses told him nothing, or that he gained no faintest inkling of them, and especially when the leader of the choir was in charge of the whole spectacle and directing the entire heaven and universe, even as a skilful pilot commands a ship that has been perfectly furnished and lacks nothing?

  [35] ἀνενδεῶς παρεσκευασμένης; οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ τοιοῦτον γιγνόμενον θαυμάσαι τις ἄν, πολὺ δὲ μᾶλλον ὅπως καὶ μέχρι τῶν θηρίων διικνεῖται τῶν ἀφρόνων καὶ ἀλόγων, ὡς καὶ ταῦτα γιγνώσκειν καὶ τιμᾶν τὸν θεὸν καὶ προθυμεῖσθαι ζῆν κατὰ τὸν ἐκείνου θεσμόν: ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον ἀπεοικότως τὰ φυτά, οἷς μηδεμίαμηδενὸς ἔννοια, ἀλλὰ ἄψυχα καὶ ἄφωνα ἁπλῇ τινι φύσει διοικούμενα, ὅμως δὲ καὶ αὐτὰ ἑκουσίως καὶ βουλόμενα καρπὸν ἐκφέρει τὸν προσήκοντα ἑκάστῳ. οὕτω πάνυ ἐναργὴς καὶ πρόδηλος ἡ τοῦδε τοῦ θεοῦ γνώμη καὶ δύναμις.

  [35] That human beings should be so affected would occasion no surprise, but much rather that, as we see, this influence reaches even the senseless and irrational brutes, so that even they recognize and honour the god and desire to live according to his ordinance; and it is still stranger that the plants, which have no conception of anything, but, being soulless and voiceless, are controlled by a simple kind of nature — it is passing strange, I say, that even these voluntarily and willingly yield each its own proper fruit; so very clear and evident is the will and power of yonder god.

  [36] ἀλλ᾽ ἦπου σφόδρα γελοῖοι καὶ ἀρχαῖοι δόξομεν ἐπὶ τοῖς λόγοις, ἐγγυτέρω φάσκοντες εἶναι τὴν τοιαύτηνξύνεσιν τοῖς θηρίοις καὶ τοῖς δένδροις ἤπερ ἡμῖν τὴν ἀπειρίαν τε καὶ ἄγνοιαν; ὁπότε ἄνθρωποί τινες σοφώτεροι γενόμενοι τῆς ἁπάσης σοφίας, οὐ κηρὸν ἐγχέαντες τοῖς ὠσίν, ὥσπερ οἶμαί φασι τοὺς Ἰθακησίους ναύτας ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ κατακοῦσαι τῆς τῶν [p. 165] Σειρήνων ᾠδῆς, ἀλλὰ μολύβδου τινὸς μαλθακὴν ὁμοῦ καὶ ἄτρωτον ὑπὸ φωνῆς φύσιν, ἔτι δὲ οἶμαι πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν σκότος πολὺ προβαλόμενοι καὶ ἀχλύν, ὑφ᾽ ἧς Ὅμηρός φησι κωλύεσθαι τὸν καταληφθέντα διαγιγνώσκειν θεόν, ὑπερφρονοῦσι τὰ θεῖα, καὶ μίαν ἱδρυσάμενοι δαίμονα πονηρὰν καὶ ἄλυπον, τρυφήν τινα ἢ ῥᾳθυμίαν πολλὴν καὶ ἀνειμένην ὕβριν, ἡδονὴν ἐπονομάζοντες, γυναικείαν τῷ ὄντι θεόν, προτιμῶσι καὶ θεραπεύουσι κυμβάλοις τισὶν ἢ ψόφοις καὶ αὐλοῖς ὑπὸ σκότος αὐλουμένοις, ἧς εὐωχίας οὐδεὶς ἐκείνοις φθόνος,

  [36] Nay, I wonder if we shall be thought exceedingly absurd and hopelessly behind the times in view of this reasoning, if we maintain that this unexpected knowledge is indeed more natural for the beasts and the trees than dullness and ignorance are for us? Why, certain men have shown themselves wiser than all wisdom; yes, they have poured into their ears, not wax, as I believe they say that the sailors from Ithaca did that they might not hear the song of the Sirens, but a substance like lead, soft at once and impenetrable by the human voice, and they also methinks have hung before their eyes a curtain of deep darkness and mist like that which, according to Homer, kept the god from being recognized when he was caught; these men, then, despise all things divine, and having set up the image of one female divinity, depraved and monstrous, representing a kind of wantonness or self-indulgent ease and unrestrained lewdness, to which they gave the name of Pleasure — an effeminate god in very truth — her they prefer in honour and worship with softly tinkling cymbal-like instruments, or with pipes played under cover of darkness —

  [37] εἰ μέχρι τοῦ ᾄδειν αὐτοῖς τὸ σοφὸν ἦν, ἀλλὰ μὴ τοὺς θεοὺς ἡμῶν ἀφῃροῦντο καὶ ἀπῴκιζον, ἐξελαύνοντες ἐκ τῆς αὑτῶν πόλεώς τε καὶ ἀρχῆς, ἐκ τοῦδε τοῦ κόσμου παντός, εἴς τινας χώρας ἀτόπους, καθάπερ ἀνθρώπους δ
υστυχεῖς εἴς τινας νήσους ἐρήμους: τάδε δὲ τὰ ξύμπαντα φάσκοντες ἀγνώμονα καὶ ἄφρονα καὶ ἀδέσποτα καὶ μηδένα ἔχοντα ἄρχοντα μηδὲ ταμίαν μηδὲ ἐπιστάτην πλανᾶσθαι εἰκῇ καὶ φέρεσθαι, μηδενὸς μήτε νῦν προνοοῦντος μήτε πρότερον ἐργασαμένου τὸ πᾶν, μηδὲ ὥσπερ οἱ παῖδες τοὺς τροχοὺς αὐτοὶ κινήσαντες εἶτα ἐῶσιν ἀφ᾽ αὑτῶν φέρεσθαι.

  [37] a form of entertainment which nobody would grudge such men if their cleverness went only as far as singing, and they did not attempt to take our gods from us and send them into banishment, driving them out of their own state and kingdom, clean out of this ordered universe to alien regions, even as unfortunate human beings are banished to sundry uninhabited isles; and all this universe above us they assert is without purpose or intelligence or master, has no ruler, or even steward or overseer, but wanders at random and is swept aimlessly along, no master being there to take thought for it now, and no creator having made it in the first place, or even doing as boys do with their hoops, which they set in motion of their own accord, and then let them roll along of themselves.

  [38] ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐπεξῆλθεν ὁ λόγος καθ᾽ αὑτὸν ἐκβάς: τυχὸν γὰρ οὐ ῥᾴδιον τὸν τοῦ φιλοσόφου νοῦν καὶ λόγον ἐπισχεῖν, ἔνθα ἂν ὁρμήσῃ, τοῦ ξυναντῶντος ἀεὶ φαινομένου ξυμφέροντος καὶ ἀναγκαίου τοῖς ἀκροωμένοις, οὐ μελετηθέντα πρὸς ὕδωρ καὶ δικανικὴν ἀνάγκην, ὥσπερ οὖν ἔφη τις, ἀλλὰ μετὰ πολλῆς ἐξουσίας καὶ ἀδείας. οὐκοῦν τό γε ἀναδραμεῖν οὐ χαλεπόν, ὥσπερ ἐν πλῷ τοῖς ἱκανοῖς κυβερνήταις οὐ πολὺ παραλλάξασι.